5 Tips for Building Your Nonprofit’s Brand

If you are starting a new nonprofit organization, there is obviously a plethora of critical issues such as mission, funding, and impact that you’ll be concerned with at the start that takes up most of your attention One of the more secondary concerns might be your organization’s brand, but the truth is that if you want to succeed, having a strong and reputable brand is just as important for success.

Many nonprofit directors take pride in having a slim program to overhead ratios, but the truth is that most of your resources will be spent on employees. If you are planning on having low salaries to boost programs, you could very well be sabotaging your growth as employees will naturally look for better career opportunities.

2) Resonating with the public is critical

A big part of securing fundraising from private donors, it’s important to become a name the public is familiar with. Many people don’t always do heavy research nonprofit organizations before making a donation. Sometimes when people are compelled to give the money back to help service a need, they’ll do so to the organizations with the most familiar names.

3) Build relationships with local officials

Part of soliciting funding is to do some from elected officials. Most officials are incredibly busy though and will not have the time to get to know what organizations are out there serving their constituents. That is the job of a nonprofit organization to do though so make sure you are building those relationships early and report back on progress and obstacles you are facing. Elected officials have the resources to help.

4) Build relationships with the press

Another part of raising your profile is to build relationships with the local press. If you are hosting events, be sure to invite journalists to cover it. At a minimum, reach out to them to introduce yourself and ask them how you can be of assistance. They might be covering a particular social issue and it might be one that you are in the area of serving.

5) Always strive for measurable results

Lastly, if you really want to get the attention of the public, you are going to have to prove that you are making a difference. This goes beyond photos and press releases though. You’ll need hard data that is measurable and proves you are actually helping people. This data can be showcased through quarterly reports, newsletters, or blog posts you share with the journalists you’ve built relationships with.

If you would like to learn more about building your nonprofit’s brand, please visit our blog daily and don’t hesitate to contact us today.